Apple today announced that Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release of their popular operating system with more than 250 new features, is available today as a download from the Mac App Store for $29.99. Some of the new features in Lion include: new Multi-Touch gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software, built right into the OS; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app.

"Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we're thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Lion makes upgrading a Mac easier than ever before; just launch the Mac App Store, buy Lion with your iTunes account, and the download and install process will begin automatically."

Mac OS X Lion is available as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.6.6 Snow Leopard from the Mac App Store for $29.99 (US). Lion is the easiest OS X upgrade and at around 4GB, it is about the size of an HD movie from the iTunes Store. Users who do not have broadband access at home, work or school can download Lion at Apple retail stores and later this August, Lion will be made available on a USB thumb drive through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) for $69 (US). Mac OS X Lion Server requires Lion and is available from the Mac App Store for $49.99 (US).

I finally got mine downloaded and I am working on a backup. I don't even know if I want to install it now. I like the way the things are organized with snow leopard. I heard it's one big folder for everything with Lion. Is there a way back without loosing anything if I don't like it?

Yes, use Time Machine or another back-up program. I had a spare SSD around in an external and backed up my boot drive. On another note, I think I finally came close to saturating FW800 during backup: internal SSD FW800 to external SSD. 70 GB went pretty darn quick.

There will be a few things to get used to, some I have found out how to deal with others no.

Don't really like the sidebar in finder windows. Also, just noticed that Library in ~/Library is hidden. Odd. And my bootcamp partition in 10.7 64-bit is also hidden.

Yes, use Time Machine or another back-up program. I had a spare SSD around in an external and backed up my boot drive. On another note, I think I finally came close to saturating FW800 during backup: internal SSD FW800 to external SSD. 70 GB went pretty darn quick.

There will be a few things to get used to, some I have found out how to deal with others no.

Don't really like the sidebar in finder windows. Also, just noticed that Library in ~/Library is hidden. Odd. And my bootcamp partition in 10.7 64-bit is also hidden.

Seems a bit more robust at this point though. Just need time to adjust to something new.

Thanks I may have to clone my drive. It's the only thing I think I can do with what I got. I am not even sure my other hardrive will fit everything I got. I will have to see. So much for "easy" install. It would of been a million times easier to have purchased a disc. It's cool though we can it now but there is more to it than apple says. If you want a back up and if you don't have fast internet its a pain too.

So much for "easy" install. It would of been a million times easier to have purchased a disc. .

You can always download and then create your own DVD. Several links around, this one was the first I saw more than a month ago.

A bunch of others as well, just do a search for "lion installer dvd" or the like. Perhaps not ideal for many, but worked ok for me, I didn't even burn a disk. Ended up installing on a USB thumb drive and install only took about 15-20 minutes._________________2.3 GHz i7 Mini (stock)
2.6 GHz i7 Mini, Samsung 830 & Hitachi
15" 2.3 GHz i7 MBP, Samsung 840 & WD Black
3.5GHz 6C MP, D700s

So much for "easy" install. It would of been a million times easier to have purchased a disc. .

You can always download and then create your own DVD. Several links around, this one was the first I saw more than a month ago.

A bunch of others as well, just do a search for "lion installer dvd" or the like. Perhaps not ideal for many, but worked ok for me, I didn't even burn a disk. Ended up installing on a USB thumb drive and install only took about 15-20 minutes.

Thanks got my disc burned. I may miss some of that blue Mac had going on.

Ok I got it installed. Just now I am already liking it. It saved all my files I had in my Macintosh hd. Specific folders I thought they would be gone. A lot of my desktop mods are still there so I got that vibe still going. I got a dock now I didn't before but it's the old school one which I like. I can still do mouse gesture up in the corners those were a big concern of mine. They are there all is well in the world. I will have to get used to dashboard though already don't like that. I use it all the time. I will find a way around it. I only just booted up so I have no idea whats really in store. I like the full screen safari. I own a trackpad but I am way more a mouse user and I think this will be a nice OS for either. Anyways off to explore.

I'm not as impressed with Lion at this point. The feature set is great, but Mail is crashing, natural scrolling isn't that natural and Preview is very buggy. I'm also wish that Front Row was back. At least give me the option in the App Store or something. I also liked the way Spaces was set up before.

Castaway, There is a work around to get front row, I either read it on this site or at Macrumors. I also believe it was written by a man from the UK. Maybe if you were to Google it you will find it. If I find it I will post.

After using it awhile its seems pretty buggy. Audio cuts in and out at times ( often ) and just got my first airport glitch today. Also I think a graphics firmware update is in order for mine at least. I'm sure there are much more those are just what's important to me that is the norm for everyday use. Nothing like the smooth SL release. That was practically flawless it seemed compared to this release.

Finally got around to installing Lion tonight. Everything went smoothly, without a single hitch. I'm not really able to comment on all the features, but some things really annoy me. Let's just say I'm glad there in an option to bring your scroll bars and unnatural direction back. Launchpad, AirDrop and Mail are cool though. Lion also feels really snappy. I know iTunes feels better than ever at 64-bit.

Finally got around to installing Lion tonight. Everything went smoothly, without a single hitch. I'm not really able to comment on all the features, but some things really annoy me. Let's just say I'm glad there in an option to bring your scroll bars and unnatural direction back. Launchpad, AirDrop and Mail are cool though. Lion also feels really snappy. I know iTunes feels better than ever at 64-bit.

Agree 100%. After about a week I am finding/stumbling on things and getting some of the oddities fixed. I really thought I was having an old timers moment with the default "natural scrolling"...thank God I figured out how to turn that off. The other thing that was particularly bothersome to me was the size of the icons in the Finder window sidebars. It's like any new OS, need to take the time to figure out where they have everything, but it's starting to feel much more natural at this point. I agree it seems a bit zippier to me; not sure if that's verifiable or not._________________2.3 GHz i7 Mini (stock)
2.6 GHz i7 Mini, Samsung 830 & Hitachi
15" 2.3 GHz i7 MBP, Samsung 840 & WD Black
3.5GHz 6C MP, D700s